Equip Mental Health Services

09/10/2025

Wednesday: Keep Learning /Me Ako Tonu for Mental Health Awareness Week!

At Equip, Mental Health Awareness Week is every day. So this we’ve put some practical suggestions together for how to bring the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your every day - ia rā, ia rā. We hope they'll inspire you to make it an everyday thing too!

But today is also World Mental Health Day and we wanted to talk about resilience. Resilience isn’t about never feeling stressed or knocked down - it’s about how we respond when we do. Resilience grows through small, consistent actions like reaching out for support, staying connected to what grounds us, and practising self-kindness when things get tough. Like a muscle, the more we use it, the stronger it gets. So keep going, and me ako tonu 💚

Here are some of the ways you can keep learning today:

⌁ Join the waitlist for the Equip Mental Health First Aid Workshop https://www.equip.net.nz/mental-health-first-aid
⌁ Learn the National Anthem in Te Reo
⌁ Apply to upskill through distance learning or consider kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face)
⌁ Find a micro course online in mindfulness, seed saving, local ecology or a mahi / work related courses – the internet is your oyster!
⌁ Find a new recipe every week!
⌁ Head to our website for inspiration on what to read!
⌁ Listen to a new podcast and keep a playlist of podcasts to come back to. You’ll find a list of podcasts to get started with in our Wellness Hub https://www.equip.net.nz/resources/podcasts
⌁ Create a “book swap”. Ask each person to bring a book
⌁ Karakia to start your day, open or close a meeting with. Find a list of commonly used karakia here https://www.equip.net.nz/resources/karakia
⌁ Increase your te reo Māori vocab with apps like Kupu or Drops. Borrow Māori Made Easy from your library or check for local beginner classes.
⌁ Find a parenting course. We can recommend The Parenting Place to get you started
⌁ ‘How to Draw a….’ Youtube tutorials open a window to a new creative you! You can search on almost anything from ‘How to draw a realistic mountain scene’ to ‘How to draw a butterfly’ to ‘How to draw realistic facial features’

Let us know what else we should add!

08/10/2025

Wednesday: Take Notice/Me Aro Tonu for Mental Health Awareness Week!

For everyone here at Equip, Mental Health Awareness Week is every day. So this we’ve put some practical suggestions together for how to bring the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your every day - ia rā, ia rā. We hope they'll inspire you to make it an everyday thing too!

Here are some of the ways you can take notice today:

⌁ Observe.

Keep a “journal” for the week. Each day, jot down one small detail you notice but might otherwise overlook. You could do this activity with a friend and meet or call each other to talk about what you note down through the week. It’s a good activity to involve the whanau in as well and something you can all talk about at the dinner table.

Photography at home. Carry a camera or use your phone camera to walk through your garden or a local park. Watch how the light changes: early morning sun, dappled shade, shadows shifting. Take photographs of things that catch your eye – bark, leaves, spider webs, patterns in soil

⌁ Listen.

Make a new play list of music, waiata or hymns. Listen to the words and the meaning behind them. How do they make you feel? What do you think the artist was trying to convey

Sit quietly for 5 minutes outside, or by an open window. Notice the sounds you hear – cars, birds, wind, voices, and the feelings in your body – temperature, tension, softening

⌁ Gratitude.

Make a list of all the things you’re grateful. Head to the Equip wellness hub for some helpful prompts.

For more ideas on bringing the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your every day, head to https://www.equip.net.nz/korero/top-up-together-mental-health-awareness-week-2025

Let us know what else we should add

Top Up Together for Mental Health Awareness Week 2025! MHAW runs from 6 to 12 October 2025 and this years theme encourages us to bring the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your life (and your workplace or whanau). We've put some practical, local and seasonal suggestions together for how to bring the Five...

07/10/2025

This is on today e te whānau!

Come and join us from 11.00am - 1.00pm at Parrs Park in Glen Eden

Join Equip for a fun and community focussed Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 event hosted by Waitakere Shared Vision

07/10/2025

Wednesday: Be Active/Me Kori Tonu for Mental Health Awareness Week!

For everyone here at Equip, Mental Health Awareness Week is every day. So this we’ve put some practical suggestions together for how to bring the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your every day - ia rā, ia rā!

We hope they'll inspire you to make it an everyday thing too! Here are some of the ways you can move your body today:

⌁ Join Equip TODAY at the Steps for Strengths, Fun Run or Walk at Parrs Park in Glen Eden - Wed 8 October from 11.00am
⌁ Head into the māra (garden). Plant kūmara or other seasonal produce in your garden or a community plot. Digging, preparing soil, planting moves your body and connects you to the land. You'll find the Tui planting guide for October and a gardening by the moon cycles guide from Koanga on our website!
⌁ Forage for rongoā (traditional native medicinal plants) in your backyard or the nearest reserve. Use a plant identification app, find a book at the library or head to the bookshop. We have an identification guide you can download on our website too!
⌁ Go for a gentle walk or jog along your local reserve, beach or bush track
⌁ Try a casual walk and talk with a colleague or friend instead of sitting in a café
⌁ Join one of the many walking groups at Walking New Zealand
⌁ Do a mini circuit in your backyard or living room: 10 squats, 10 stretches, 10 breaths, repeat 3 times.
⌁ Sign up to a yoga class or something more energetic if you will.

For more ideas on bringing the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your every day, head to https://www.equip.net.nz/korero/top-up-together-mental-health-awareness-week-2025

Let us know what else we should add!

Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand

06/10/2025

Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand Five Ways to Wellbeing
Give/Tukua

For everyone here at Equip, Mental Health Awareness Week is every day. So this MHAW, we’ve put some practical suggestions together for how to bring the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your every day - ia ra, ia ra. We hope they will inspire you to make it an every day thing too.

Here are some of the ways you can give today:

⌁ Help at your community garden.
⌁ Volunteer for a restoration project or planting day with www.pestfreekaipatiki.org.nz
⌁ Help a neighbour, rangatahi, or local group. It could be as simple as sitting with someone over a cup of tea.
⌁ Offer to babysit, mow a lawn, or bring someone lunch
⌁ Leave water dishes out for native birds or wildlife, especially if it’s dry in your area
⌁ Organise a dog walking group in your neighbourhood
⌁ Look into volunteering at a local shelter or find out what they might need. Some shelters have drives where they ask for old towels and blankets - reach out to see how you could help.
⌁ Take a look at what local events are coming up with Forest & Bird
⌁ Start a collection for upcoming Christmas donation drives. Share it with your community to see what others would like to contribute. This is an activity you could involve your tamariki in too.
⌁ Become a member - sometimes called a ‘friend of the gallery’ at your local art gallery. Volunteering at community art centres means they can open for longer or better hours and is not just good for the artists but also good for the volunteers who get to connect with visitors.
⌁ Start a beginner’s Dungeons & Dragons group and help those who don’t know how to get started, meet other players

For more ideas for bringing the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your every day, head to https://www.equip.net.nz/korero/top-up-together-mental-health-awareness-week-2025

Let us know what else we should add!

05/10/2025

Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand Five Ways to Wellbeing
Connect/Me Whakawhanaunga

For everyone here at Equip, Mental Health Awareness Week is every day. So this MHAW, we’ve put some practical suggestions together for how to bring the Five Ways to Wellbeing into your every day - ia ra, ia ra. We hope they will inspire you to make it an every day thing too.

Here are some of the ways you can connect with others today:

⌁ Message someone you haven't heard from in a while
⌁ Host a shared morning tea or lunch.
⌁Walk and talk (or in silence!) with a neighbour.
⌁ Have a potluck dinner, bbq or lunch.
⌁ Have a potluck games night (or day)
⌁ Host a whanau hui
⌁ Join a local gardening, book, photography or walking club
⌁ Ask a friend, your whānau or hoamahi what the best thing about their day was and listen with interest
⌁ Take someone to visit Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill
⌁ Visit Eden Garden in Mount Eden
⌁ Cook and Kai (eat) - host a pretend cooking show with friends
⌁ Forest / ngahere walk with rongoā learning
⌁ Head to a library or community centre pop-up
⌁ Grab a friend and head to the park to draw
⌁ Support a local artist by visiting an exhibition
⌁ Take a friend or the kids to the Auckland Art Gallery
⌁ Volunteer for a clean up or restoration planting
⌁ Opshop till you drop! Grab a friend and go on an opshop mission!

For more ideas for connecting with others, head to https://www.equip.net.nz/korero/top-up-together-mental-health-awareness-week-2025

Let us know what else we should add!

05/10/2025

This Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 , Equip are taking part in the Steps for Strength Fun Run hosted by Waitakere Shared Vision. Come and join us to Top Up Together!

Wed 8 October
11.00am - 1.00pm
Parrs Park, Glen Eden

Join Equip for a fun and community focussed Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 event hosted by Waitakere Shared Vision

02/10/2025

Top Up Together – Our Voice Hui & BBQ - SAVE THE DATE!

Join Our Voice to top up together for Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 - an afternoon of kai, connection and fun.

🗓️ Monday 6 October | 1.00pm
📍 Windsor Park Baptist Church (Kōwhai Room)
✉️ RSVP to ourvoice@equip.net.nz or call/text 0272250015

Our Voice is a community network open to anyone in the Waitematā region who has lived experience of mental health or addiction challenges. If that’s you, or someone you care about, this is a place where you can connect, share and make a difference for others. We'll celebrate MHAW together at the Our Voice Hui with BBQ, games, and time to connect.

https://www.equip.net.nz/news/top-up-together-our-voice-hui-mental-health-awareness-week

30/09/2025

Top Up Together – Our Voice Hui & BBQ
Monday 6 October | 1.00pm
Windsor Park Baptist Church (Kōwhai Room)

Join Our Voice to top up together for Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 - an afternoon of kai, connection, and fun.

We will celebrate MHAW together at the Our Voice Hui with BBQ, games, and time to connect.

Please RSVP to ourvoice@equip.net.nz or call/text 0272250015

Join Our Voice to top up together for Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 - an afternoon of kai, connection, and fun.

13/09/2025

Ki te kāhore he whakakitenga ka ngaro te iwi. Without foresight or vision, the people will be lost.

We interpret this to mean that you need a vision to reach your goal or whatever it might be that you are hoping for. It implies the need for unification and leadership.

If this resonates for you, reach out to us for a chat about how Equip services can tautoko (support) any challenges you’re working through right now.

www.equip.net.nz

12/09/2025

Family Connections - Free Programme

12 week course providing education, training and support for people in a relationship with someone who experiences difficulties regulating emotions.

🕢 TIMES 6.00pm – 8.00pm every Thursday
🗓️ DATES 18 September to 4 December
💻 Venue | Delivered Online
ℹ More info | https://www.equip.net.nz/events/family-connections/
🔗 Registration Essential | events@equip.net.nz

Sessions include:
- Education on Emotional Dysregulation and related problems
- Skills training based on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
- Opportunity to reflect and share experiences

By the end of the programme, you will:
- Understand the challenges, experiences and behaviours associated with emotional dysregulation
- Learn strategies to manage your emotional responses and improve relationships
- Build a support network with whānau in similar situations

This is a FREE programme and registration is essential.

Education, skills training, and support by trained facilitators, for people in a relationship with someone who struggles to regulate emotions. Intense emotions, impulsive behaviours, unstable relationships, and fears of abandonment can all be part of the experience.